John Hoppin

We started this adventure in California in June of 2012 with the idea that Vicki wanted to travel around the country to see the USA from the front window of a Class A Motorhome. This was not the way that John wanted to spend the next 5 years of his life, but when Vicki suggested they could stop and see baseball stadiums along the way, he jumped at the opportunity. She was willing to do this as long as traveling was involved. And besides, she is a photographer and she might find some interesting things to shoot while at these ballparks! That compromise developed into further discussions and the idea of doing a book about minor league baseball was born that summer. In the spring of 2013 with the start of the baseball season in April we headed to our first “official” park in Midland, TX. We were off and running.

The plan was simple: get to as many parks as we could over a 4 year period, meet some interesting people along the way, take a whole lot of photos and maybe put a coffee table book together about what we saw and who we met. It sounded simple, just not easy. But 157 ballparks later we ended our adventure in Winnipeg, Canada in September of 2016. We then added two more parks, The Hillsboro Hops in Oregon and Idaho Falls Chukars in August of 2017.

These parks not only attracted families and were fun places to be, they were also great places to see professional baseball at its roots. Time after time, park after park our theory was reinforced. We also found out that the people that work in minor league baseball are some of the most civic minded folks you would ever want to meet. Many of the staffs of the teams and even the fans of the teams participate in their communities in a way that we never even imagined. We also found that there is a spirit that exists in the parks that bring together people of all walks of life and manner of living in a way that is indeed an amazing thing to be a part of.

This volume and the one to follow soon are not books about the best food or best views and even the best parks. What we hope we have captured here is all about the people and joy and the fun in minor league baseball. We were welcomed by staff with open arms in just about every park we went to. Some of those special people and places are included in this volume.

In Volume Two we will be telling you more about the fun and the people that bring it like mascots and on field MCs. But, like any form of entertainment, there still needs to be an audience. In minor league baseball that audience is the fans. Some of those interesting stories will be coming to you in Volume Two as well.

Our travels have given us a broad, and we think a unique experience as to what happens at a ball game in a minor league park. We hope you enjoy our perspective through the photos and the stories provided to us by the people we have met.